James Bond (Roger Moore)
Commander James Bond is a Senior Operational Officer of the 'Double-O' ('00') Branch, an ultra-covert Black Ops unit within the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). As an agent of MI6, Bond holds code number "007". The 'double-O' prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties. Following the final departure of Sean Connery in 1971, English actor Roger Moore took over the role from 1973 to 1985. To date he is the longest-serving James Bond actor, spanning twelve years in the role. He is also the oldest actor to play Bond; having begun the role at 45 and retiring from it at the age of 58. He appeared in Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View To A Kill (1985). Film biography Shared background Although very little of Bond's past is directly addressed during the Roger Moore era, it is assumed that his Bond continues to share the common background laid out by the Ian Fleming novels and preceding Bond films. In the novels, James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, from the Canton de Vaud. He acquired a first-class command of the French and German languages during his early education, which he received entirely abroad. Both parents were tragically killed during a climbing accident in the French Alps when he was eleven. After the death of his parents, Bond goes to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, where he completes his early education. Later, he briefly attends Eton College at "12 or thereabouts", but is removed after two halves because of girl trouble with a maid. After being sent down from Eton, Bond was sent to Fettes College in Scotland, his father's school. After leaving Fettes, earlier EON films note that Bond studied at Cambridge University. There, he achieved a first in Oriental languages. In Fleming's novels, Bond alluded to briefly attending the University of Geneva (as did Fleming), before being taught to ski in Kitzbühel. Following his graduation, Bond joined the Ministry of Defence and became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, rising though the ranks to commander. Bond applied to M for a position within the "Secret Service", part of the Civil Service, and rose to the rank of principal officer. Behind the scenes Because of his successful television shows, in particular the long-lasting series The Saint, Roger Moore was unavailable for the James Bond franchise for a considerable time. His participation in The Saint was not only as actor, but also as a producer and director, and he also became involved in developing the series The Persuaders!. As Roger Moore frankly explains in his autobiography My Word Is My Bond, he had neither been approached to play James Bond in Dr. No, nor had he felt that he had been considered. It was only after Sean Connery had declared in 1966 that he would not play Bond any longer that Moore became aware that he might be a contender for the role. But after George Lazenby was cast instead and then Connery played Bond again, he didn't consider the possibility until it seemed abundantly clear that Connery had in fact stepped down as Bond for good. At that point he was indeed approached and accepted the producer's offer in August 1972. Moore says in his autobiography that he had to cut his hair and lose weight, but although he resented it, he was finally cast as James Bond in 1973's Live and Let Die. James Bond was different during this era because times had changed and the scripts were different. Authors like George MacDonald Fraser provided scenarios in which 007 was a kind of seasoned, debonair playboy who would always have a trick or gadget in stock when he needed it. This was designed to serve the contemporary taste. Trivia *In 1987 Moore also hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond. *In 2004 Moore was voted 'Best Bond' in an Academy Awards poll, and he won with 62% of votes in 2008. References Category:Stub Category:James Bond characters Category:James Bonds